These pages are designed
to provide an overview of the political situation in each state at the
time of the November 7, 2000 election and to show the results and changes
in the immediate aftermath of the election. Each state page has three
major sections. The top third provides general information on the
state's population and government and has links to political parties and
media. The government section shows elected officials at the time
of the November election; below, in red, are changes that occurred as a
result of the election. The middle third has results for the 2000 presidential
election. On the left are results from the 1992 and 1996 elections;
in the middle are the 2000 results, and on the right is a very brief overview
of the 2000 campaign and results. Finally, the bottom third of the
page has presidential primary results.

For most states, there is
a link from the main state page to a details page that focuses on general
election activity.

Details Pages

Campaign Organization

Candidate Travel (Aug. 1-Nov.
7)

A Sampling of More Campaign
Activity

Television

Some Newspaper Endorsements

Miscellaneous Notes

Other Candidates: Nader,
Buchanan, Browne...

Campaign Organization: Statewide, three entities
help bring the candidate's message to the voters: (a) the candidate's campaign
organization; (b) the unified effort designed to elect party members at
every level from the court house to the White House (known as the coordinated
campaign ("CorCam") for Democrats and Victory 2000 for Republicans); and
(c) the state party.

In most states, the Bush
and Gore campaigns had from one to five staffers; typically these people
started working after the conventions, in late August or early September.
Gore/Lieberman had a clearly identified state director in each state, while
it was sometimes a bit more fuzzy for Bush/Cheney. Duties
of the state director or executive director include planning trips, advising
the national campaign and serving as spokesperson. State directors
brought varied experience to the post. On the Bush side, in a number
of key states, the lead person was somebody on leave from a position working
for the governor or U.S. Senator; he or she knew the state well.
In other states, Bush merely had an unofficial contact and the campaign
was done through the state party. In a number of states, Gore state
directors were brought in from out of state, and another staffer or the
coordinated campaign director providing local expertise.

The state party funds the
coordinated campaign/Victory 2000 effort. In some cases the party's
executive director is director of the coordinated campaign/Victory 2000.

The coordinated campaign/Victory
2000 is the heart of the campaign; in essence it is the field operation.
It runs the campaign office that springs up in the local mall, mobilizes
volunteers, coordinates with supportive groups, and oversees the targeted
persuasion mail and phone calls.

Candidate Travel:
A candidate's time is one of the most valued resources. Closely fought
states see multiple visits from the presidential and vice presidential
candidates, while safe states may not get a single visit in the fall.

This section lists all candidate
visits to the state from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7, 2000. The timeframe is
somewhat arbitrary but is designed to cover the fall campaign. Using
this period has two major shortcomings. First, the conventions, which
occur in August, disrupt ordinary candidate travel. Perhaps a better
analytical frame would be to look at Sept. 1 to Nov. 7. Second, the
fall campaign can be said to start in the latter part of March after the
candidates have effectively secured their nominations.

A Sampling of More Campaign
Activity: In the absence of the candidates
themselves, surrogates can help convey the campaign's message. They
may not be able to persuade voters to back their man but they can at least
show the flag. Janice R. LaChance, then director of the Office of
Personnel Management, did some surrogate appearances for Gore both during
the Iowa caucuses and in the fall campaign; she noted after the election
that such visits give local activists an incentive to do a little more.
"It matters to them that somebody at the national level cares about them,"
she said.

Foremost among the surrogates
are the candidate's wife and the vice presidential candidate's wife.
Tipper Gore was very active on the campaign trial; Laura Bush did few solo
appearances. Hadassah Lieberman and Lynne Cheney did a lot of campaigning
as well. Other members of the candidates' families hit the hustings.
Former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush actively
campaigned for their son as did Bush's sister Doro Bush Koch (of Bethesda,
MD, wife of Robert Koch, senior vice president of the Wine Institute).
Bush's celebrity nephew, George P. Bush, did little campaigning during
the fall, as he was focusing on law school. By contrast, Gore's foremost
youth advocate, eldest daughter Karenna Gore Schiff (graduated from Columbia
Law School on May 16, 2000; gave birth to Gore's first grandson Wyatt on
July 4, 1999) travelled widely on his behalf. Gore's daughter Kristin
also made a number of appearances, and did various Lieberman relatives.

Elected, appointed and party
officials spread the word. Bush deployed 29 Republican governors
on a "Barnstorm for Reform" tour Oct. 23-25. Teams of from two to
four governors, each joined by a Texas Democrat, made relatively low key,
media-oriented appearances 25 states. Starting Oct. 30, the Bush
campaign used governors and others as "Gore Detectors" to provide balance
following Gore appearances. During the last week of the campaign,
elected and party officials joined Republican bus tours in many states.
On the Democratic side, President Clinton was kept to the sidelines, but
various Cabinet secretaries stumped for Gore. Some of this surrogate
activity is done through the party. The Democratic National Committee mobilized
"Texas Truth Squads" to counter Bush's message. On Oct. 23, the DNC
organized dozens of events around the country to unveil a 10-minute video
"George W. Bush's Priorities." The DNC supported Jesse Jackson's
extensive travels as he first sought to register people and later exhorted
them to vote.

Then there are the celebrities.
Bush's stable included actress Bo Derek and actress Dixie Carter ("Designing
Women" and "Family Law"). Al Franken did quite a few appearances
in support of Gore. Starting in late October, director Rob Reiner
and other celebrities did a multi-state tour that aimed to dampen support
for Nader.

Allies, while acting independently,
can also boost the campaign. NRA President Charlton Heston, Exec.
VP Wayne LaPierre and chief lobbyist James J. Baker held rallies in a number
of states on a Get Out the Vote tour.

The information in this section
is based on news accounts and conversations with state directors. The listing
does not include every surrogate appearance and is biased toward those
appearances that drew news coverage and involved out-of-state visitors.

Television: According to the Campaign
Media Analysis Group (CMAG Eye, Jan. 2001 and Nov./Dec. 2000),
the Bush campaign and the RNC ran nearly 121,500 ads in the period from
June 1 to Nov. 7, spending an estimated $89,650,000, while Gore and the
DNC ran over 103,000 ads and spent an estimated $67 million. CMAG
has developled useful information the number of ads run by Bush/RNC and
Gore/DNC in top states as well as estimates of expenditures. CMAG
also provided data for the Brennan
Center for Justice studies; however, the Brennan Center analyses glom
advertising by the campaigns, the parties and supportive groups
together.

CMAG and Brennan Center reports
provide a rough picture of the television wars, but they have a number
of limitations. First, media markets cross state boundaries.
Thus intense Gore/DNC buys in Philadelphia also have an effect in Delaware
and South Jersey. Second, CMAG only looked at the top 75 media markets.
Third, they do not reveal the pattern of spending over time in various
states.

Some Newspaper Endorsements: Endorsements do offer well
written, thoughtful views on the candidates' strengths and weaknesses even
if their impact is debatable. The list of papers' endorsements is
biased toward those papers that put their editorials up on their web sites.

Miscellaneous Notes:This section seeks to provide
some insights into the dynamics the campaign faced in each state.

Other Candidates:Their budgets are tiny,
they have a hard time getting media attention, their vote totals are often
paltry, but third party candidates were out there campaigning every bit
as energetically as the major party candidates.